Richard Elfman

Richard "Rick" Elfman is an American film director, writer and actor.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Family 2 Career 2.1 Le Grand Magic Circus 2.2 The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo 2.3 The Forbidden Zone 2.4 Buzzine 2.5 The Schlemazl of Sebriem 3 Filmography 4 External links 5 References

[edit] Biography

Elfman was born in Los Angeles, California, on 6 March 1949, and grew up in the inner-city Crenshaw district. He spent his high school years doing track and field, learning Afro-Latin percussion music and instruments, boxing, and writing editorials for zines.

[edit] Family

Elfman is the son of writer Blossom Elfman and the late Milton Elfman, an Air Force veteran and teacher. He is the brother of musician Danny Elfman. He was married to actress Marie-Pascale Elfman until the early 1980s. He is the father of actor Bodhi Elfman (born 1969) and Louis Elfman (born 1979). He is the uncle to actress Mali Elfman. In 1995, Bodhi married actress Jenna Elfman. In 2003, his brother Danny married actress Bridget Fonda. In 2006, Richard married long-time girlfriend Lauren Elfman.

[edit] Career

[edit] Le Grand Magic Circus

After high school, Elfman traveled to Paris, France, and became a member of Jérôme Savary’s multi-media troupe, Le Grand Magic Circus. The group was taken under the wing of theatrical director/impresario Peter Brook, of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and given a proper theatrical venue. At this point, Elfman's younger brother, Danny Elfman, joined the company and toured Europe with them. Eighteen year-old Danny created his first musical composition to open the show. He played electric violin, accompanied by Richard on the conga drums. Richard reportedly got his younger bespectacled brother (along with his expensive violin) safely away from a small riot which erupted during a performance in Spain's Basque region after drunken members of the audience gravely insulted the mother of an Argentine member of the troupe and the actor dove off the stage, into the crowd. Danny left the troupe shortly thereafter to spend a year traveling and playing music with indigenous peoples in central Africa. Richard remained in Paris, acting, writing and modeling.^[1]

[edit] The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo

After returning to the States, Elfman formed the musical theatre troupe known The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo. The group reflected his eclectic tastes in music, and performed older classics that could not be heard live anymore, along with the original creations of his brother Danny. Marie-Pascale, along with Danny and their boyhood friends Gene Cunningham and Matthew Bright, helped Richard found the group.

[edit] The Forbidden Zone

Elfman's directorial debut began when he produced his first movie, Forbidden Zone. This was also his brother Danny's first foray into music composition for film. Forbidden Zone received a cult following similar to that of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. It has now been released on DVD in color and with a remastered soundtrack.

After filming Forbidden Zone, Richard left the music scene. The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo became simply "Oingo Boingo", and was now fronted by Danny. Richard went on to write scripts for his movies, as well as adapting some novels written by his mother, Blossom Elfman into films.

[edit] Buzzine

Richard is presently the editor and co-publisher of Buzzine Magazine and Buzzine Magazine Online, a nationally viewed culture and entertainment website and publication. Louis Elfman is Buzzine's chief tech officer and co-publisher, Richard's wife, Lauren Elfman, is senior managing editor, and his mother is their literary editor.^[2]

[edit] The Schlemazl of Sebriem

Richard's first novel, The Schlemazl of Sebriem will soon be published.^[3]

[edit] Filmography

• Forbidden Zone (1980)
• Private Life (music video)
• Shrunken Heads (1994)
• Streets of Rage (1995) (under pseudonym Lt. Col. Aristide Pierre Lafite Sumatra, of the Ton Ton Macoute, ret.)
• Bone Chillers (1995) (ABC TV series)
• Modern Vampires, also called Revenant (1999)
• Date or Disaster (2004)
• 28 Days to Vegas (2008)
• Forbidden Zone in Color! (2008)
• 30 Days to Vegas (2009)
• Buzzine Celebrity Interviews (2009)

Elfman has also acted, written and directed under various stage names, including "Aristide Sumatra," "Mahatma Kane Sumatra", and "Lt. Col. Aristide Pierre Lafite Sumatra, of the Ton Ton Macoute, ret," (a character's name from the film Shrunken Heads). Elfman often makes obscure cameos in his own films, generally playing a police officer eating a doughnut. Elfman is currently working on several new movies, including Brave New Rosenberg and a Forbidden Zone sequel: Forbidden Zone 2: The Forbidden Galaxy. Elfman often produces as well as directs his films and television episodes.

[edit] External links

• Official website
• Richard Elfman at the Internet Movie Database

[edit] References